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HB 943

Turning High-Achieving Students into Teachers.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Eric Ager and 15 co-sponsors

Funds expansion of the NC Teacher Cadet Program to grow a diverse, locally rooted teacher pipeline, prioritizing high-need, high-attrition districts.

Passed 1st Reading
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Bill Summary · HB 943

Summary — HB 943 (North Carolina): "Turning High‑Achieving Students into Teachers"

Note: Several states file bills labeled "HB 943." This summary covers the North Carolina bill titled "Turning High‑Achieving Students into Teachers" (First Edition / Session 2025) introduced by Rep. Donny (or Representative) Ball et al.

Purpose / Intent

To strengthen North Carolina’s teacher pipeline by expanding and supporting the North Carolina Teacher Cadet Program (NCTCP), an established program that recruits high‑achieving high school students into teaching — with an emphasis on increasing teacher supply, diversity, and retention in rural and high‑need districts.

Key provisions

  • Appropriation
    • $100,000 in nonrecurring General Fund dollars for each year of the 2025–2027 biennium (i.e., $100,000 for FY2025–26 and $100,000 for FY2026–27).
    • Funds are appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and must be provided to the nonprofit North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children for use by the NCTCP.
  • Permitted uses of funds (program expansion and services):
    1. Statewide curriculum training workshops for teachers, with options for in‑person and online ongoing support.
    2. Expansion of services in counties designated as development tier one; within those counties, the program shall prioritize schools with the highest teacher attrition rates from the 2022–2023 school year.
    3. Continued development and training aimed at persons in underrepresented teaching demographics (specifically cadets who are male and cadets who are persons of color). Training should, where possible, involve past/current cadets who are classroom teachers, postsecondary education students pursuing teaching degrees, and high‑school seniors.
  • Effective date: July 1, 2025.

Who is affected

  • Primary beneficiaries: High‑school students participating in the NCTCP (including increased focus on male cadets and cadets of color).
  • Educational institutions: Participating public high schools (particularly in rural and development tier one counties), local school districts, and teacher‑training faculty.
  • State agencies and organizations: NC Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children (implementer/recipient of funds).
  • Longer‑term effects: Potential increases in teacher recruitment and retention, especially in high‑need and rural schools; modest programmatic expansion capacity for training and field experiences.

Rationale / Background

The bill cites teacher effectiveness as a major factor in student outcomes and identifies shortages in recruitment and retention, with particular gaps in diversity and in rural/low‑performing districts. NCTCP provides honors‑level curriculum, hands‑on teaching methods, field experiences, and partnerships with higher education and local boards of education; the appropriation is intended to scale these elements.

Fiscal impact and timeline

  • Fiscal: $100,000 nonrecurring per fiscal year in the 2025–27 biennium (total $200,000 across the biennium). The appropriation is nonrecurring (one‑time each year).
  • Effective July 1, 2025.
  • Procedural status (as of materials provided): Introduced and referred to Appropriations (listed in bill history as passed first reading and referred to Appropriations, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House).

Practical effect

If implemented, the bill provides modest, targeted funding to expand teacher‑cadet training, prioritize high‑attrition schools in economically distressed counties, and bolster recruitment of underrepresented groups into the teaching profession — with the goal of growing a more diverse, locally rooted teacher workforce over time.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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